EE7
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I was pumped for the Tampa Bay Fastlane meet up this weekend. So much so I could barely sleep the night before. Late Saturday afternoon I received a phone call from someone who I thought was unreachable.
The man on the other side of the line was someone who I have been hounding to get a meeting with for a while now. He said he only had a bit of time and if this meeting was going to happen it would be now.
I drove over to his office where we talked about my SAAS project for a couple of hours - the pros, cons, and obstacles standing in the way. One of the biggest obstacles of this project was that of capital (hence the meeting). This man is one of the lead players in the industry and I was trying to woo him into investing in my project.
He told me that he wanted to discuss numbers. I was squirming in my seat (not literally.. I hope) with the raw excitement and anticipation of an all in deal. He seemed thrilled by the project and ready to go. Nothing could go wrong.
I gave him my numbers ... There was a long awkward silence and then a confused look appeared on his face. This look transformed into a look that would appear on the face of any man who had just taken a sip of a sweat and toenail cocktail from the boot of an old janitor.
He closed his notes and said straight up "We are done here. Thanks for stopping in!"
Thinking this was some kind of negotiation tactic I kept pushing and giving more and more away just trying to get him to latch on to something. The man was legitimately furious with me and would not accept any type of deal at all (looking back on it this was a good thing considering I had just folded like a piece of tissue paper and may have given the whole thing away). I tried to ask what he thought was a fair deal and re engage him into negotiation but he wouldn't have any of it. So, I left.
On the drive home I began to reflect on what the hell had just happened. How did something that seemed so great and a done deal turn into the shit storm that it did?
Obviously he did not like my opening numbers, but they were flexible - I guess I didn't portray this to him. Multiple sources said that the numbers were quite reasonable so I was confident in them. I wonder if being a leader in the industry made him want to have significantly more control. I am not sure.
What did I learn from all of this?
Just because something is running smoothly and seems like a guarantee does not mean that it is a done deal. I wonder if my comfort and expectations of a done deal throughout the meeting threw me off when he expressed his distaste. I wonder if I had been expecting a 180 flip I would have been able to keep my composure and work something out. I also learned that giving away more and more in a pathetic attempt to regain traction was incredibly stupid. I realize that it made me seem unsure of myself and the project. Who wants to put money into something if the originator doesn't seem confident about it?
I am not going to dwell on this experience in a negative way, but learn from it. I will be far more prepared for the next one.
If any of you master negotiators out there have any tips to regaining control of a meeting when it gets to this level or what you would have done differently in this situation I would love to hear them.
The man on the other side of the line was someone who I have been hounding to get a meeting with for a while now. He said he only had a bit of time and if this meeting was going to happen it would be now.
I drove over to his office where we talked about my SAAS project for a couple of hours - the pros, cons, and obstacles standing in the way. One of the biggest obstacles of this project was that of capital (hence the meeting). This man is one of the lead players in the industry and I was trying to woo him into investing in my project.
He told me that he wanted to discuss numbers. I was squirming in my seat (not literally.. I hope) with the raw excitement and anticipation of an all in deal. He seemed thrilled by the project and ready to go. Nothing could go wrong.
I gave him my numbers ... There was a long awkward silence and then a confused look appeared on his face. This look transformed into a look that would appear on the face of any man who had just taken a sip of a sweat and toenail cocktail from the boot of an old janitor.
He closed his notes and said straight up "We are done here. Thanks for stopping in!"
Thinking this was some kind of negotiation tactic I kept pushing and giving more and more away just trying to get him to latch on to something. The man was legitimately furious with me and would not accept any type of deal at all (looking back on it this was a good thing considering I had just folded like a piece of tissue paper and may have given the whole thing away). I tried to ask what he thought was a fair deal and re engage him into negotiation but he wouldn't have any of it. So, I left.
On the drive home I began to reflect on what the hell had just happened. How did something that seemed so great and a done deal turn into the shit storm that it did?
Obviously he did not like my opening numbers, but they were flexible - I guess I didn't portray this to him. Multiple sources said that the numbers were quite reasonable so I was confident in them. I wonder if being a leader in the industry made him want to have significantly more control. I am not sure.
What did I learn from all of this?
Just because something is running smoothly and seems like a guarantee does not mean that it is a done deal. I wonder if my comfort and expectations of a done deal throughout the meeting threw me off when he expressed his distaste. I wonder if I had been expecting a 180 flip I would have been able to keep my composure and work something out. I also learned that giving away more and more in a pathetic attempt to regain traction was incredibly stupid. I realize that it made me seem unsure of myself and the project. Who wants to put money into something if the originator doesn't seem confident about it?
I am not going to dwell on this experience in a negative way, but learn from it. I will be far more prepared for the next one.
If any of you master negotiators out there have any tips to regaining control of a meeting when it gets to this level or what you would have done differently in this situation I would love to hear them.
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